whoops

***I looked and it seemed that a couple of things were drafted then never posted.

We had TROSA come to haul away all of the bamboo and such that I have lopped, only to discover that we are heartless and thoughtless. It was quite an eye-opening experience for me.

The estimate they gave was great, their lawn shop supervisor visited the site and thought it would be a quick job. We were happy that all of the bamboo would be hauled off and we could focus on cleaning the lot. When the crew arrived, several of the workers freaked out. They saw bottles. They saw needles. They couldn't work in those conditions.

We found this out when we called TROSA to find out what time they would be there so we could pay, sign the paperwork, and generally cheer them on and thank them. TROSA amazed us that day. If you have any experience with day laborers or the general state of workers who are paid off the books in Durham, you know that it is a sad place with no work place protections, pay under the table, and wages less than minimum wage. Workers are treated at chattle.

When you combine non-profit status to that, often people are exploited beyond belief. In the name of recovering, someone else benefits from their labor entirely.

TROSA is the exact opposite of this. We knew this before hiring them, but had it confirmed in numerous ways that day.

When their workers came to the supervisor and said they were uncomfortable TROSA listened. They DID NOT tell their community members to suck it up. They did not tell them to get back in there and finish the damn job. They LISTENED. They responded with respect.

TROSA pulled the crew out of the lot immediately. They called and explained that while they did provide services, it was a treatment facility and therapuetic community. They could not put their residents in a place or position that would be detrimental to their recovery from addiction. They were very sorry and they would love to finish the job, but since there were bottles (and someone saw needles) they just couldn't put their workers in that situation. Thank you for the business, but they would have to turn the job down until the situation changed.

Trosa is amazing.

When you consider the amount of power someone at month 6 has in a 2 year residential treatment facility generally, to be able to say, I spoke up and people listened and respected what I had to say. People were concerned not about the bottom line, but about my well being and opinions. This says so much about the people who run TROSA at every level. I was humbled by both the fact that I had not considered how a recovering addict would respond to a lot with the detritus of addiction strewn about and then releived by the response of TROSA that showered their members with honest respect.

This still leaves us with a bamboo lot strewn with bottles...but we're working on that.


This is the email I sent to them...

To the crew who came to 503 N. Elizabeth St this am,

We are so sorry. We did not consider the fact that the lot would be personally disturbing. We have not suffered under addiction, and had blocked out the suffering and misery that the vacant lot represented in our minds. We knew there were 40 ounce bottles scattered about, but we had seen no needles. Frankly, we wouldn't know what a crack pipe looked like to know if we had seen those. If we had seen the needles or crack pipes we would never have asked for you to enter that situation. I imagine it would be much like thinking your going to the grocery store and really entering a haunted house.

We have the utmost respect for TROSA and the PINNACLE of respect for all of the brave men and women who enter and complete the program. You are amazing and brave souls and we are so truly sorry we caused any of you any pain this morning.

Please let us know if there is any way we can make this up to you.

Natalie Spring & J. Harris Carpenter

a slight update

That bamboo...

We have failed to mention that on bamboo day two we discovered that Harris has an extreme immunological response to the fibery things in bamboo. This means that the majority of lopping, cutting, hacking, and moving has fallen to Natalie.

Great.

I truly enjoy it though, so it's not a big deal. It's rather relaxing if you can believe it. I lop, chop, move, and chat with the people in the group home next door. They are not quite convinced yet that I (and Harris) own the house and lot nor that we don't need any help with any odd jobs yet.

Tomorrow TROSA will be coming to haul off all of the bamboo, brush, and limbs that we've managed to cut down in the past month. While I know that the lot will still look like crap, for some reason I've got this Disney Miracle (tm) image in my head that suddenly our lot will be picnic clean after they leave!

It won't. I know. You can all say you told me so.
We've got to blow all of the detritus and leaves into...something...right now the plan is the bottom most corner of the lot that has ivy on top of it. Maybe the droppings of the bamboo will suffocate the ivy as they decompose?


Before and after pictures posted...after. Yeah.

The girl child celebrates her birthday this weekend so work will be minimal.